EDWARDS
,
THOMAS
(
Twm o'r Nant
;
1739
-
1810
),
poet and writer of interludes
;
b. at
Penparchell Isaf
, parish of
Llanefydd, Denbs.
His parents moved when he was a child to
Nant
, near
Nantglyn
. He learned to read at one of
GriffithJones
's circulating schools, and was later put to school for a fortnight at
Denbigh
. In his autobiography he states that he had written songs and two interludes before he was 9 years of age, and had taken part in interlude playing when he was 12. At his marriage in
1763
to
ElizabethHughes
of
Pont-y-garreg
,
Llanfair Talhaearn
,
EvanEvans
(
Ieuan Fardd
, q.v.)
, the renowned
poet
and
antiquary
, officiated.
Twm
and his wife made their home at
Denbigh
, and he earned his living by
hauling timber
. Owing to certain misfortunes he soon became involved in heavy debts, with the result that he had to turn for a while to
writing interludes and acting in them
. When his fortunes took a turn for the better, he returned to
timber hauling
in
Denbighshire
and
Montgomeryshire
, until he found himself once more in financial difficulties through having become surety for an uncle of his who became bankrupt. This time he betook himself to
South Wales
, where he maintained himself and his family by
timber hauling
at
Abermarlais
and other places,
farming a turnpike gate
, and later
keeping an inn
at
Llandilo
. On his return to
North Wales
in
1786
he had to fall back once again on
interlude acting
, but eventually settled down at
Denbigh
, where he worked as a
stonemason
. For a short time in
1808
he was employed by
W. A.Madocks
(q.v.)
on the
building of the Portmadoc embankment
. He d.
3 April 1810
and was buried at
Whitchurch
near
Denbigh
.

It was
Twm o'r Nant
's custom, having acted an interlude for a time, to have it printed and published in pamphlet form. The interludes which he wrote in his youth have disappeared, but the following have survived:
Tri Chydymaith Dyn
,
Cyfoeth a Thlodi
,
Cain ac Abel
,
Pleser a Gofid
,
Tri Chryfion Byd
,
Pedair Colofn Gwladwriaeth
,
Cybydd-dod ac Oferedd
,
Y Farddoneg Fabilonaidd
. These interludes contain a good deal of social criticism.
Twm
's two main characteristics, his ready wit and his facility in versification, account for many a scathing passage in his works, and also for the fact that some of his verses remained in the popular memory for generations. (It will be recalled how
MariLewis
, in
DanielOwen
's novel,
Rhys Lewis
, was continually quoting ‘
Tomos o'r Nant
.’) A collection of his poems, entitled
Gardd o Gerddi
and printed at
Trevecka
, appeared in
1790
. An occasional well-turned couplet in his
cywyddau
proves that he was conversant with the works of the
15th and 16th cent.poets
. He had
collected a number
of manuscripts
, which he sold to
William OwenPughe
and which are now at the
British Museum
.

Twm o'r Nant
was a
prominent competitor in the early eisteddfodau
patronized by the
Gwyneddigion Society
. In the eisteddfod held at
Corwen
in
May 1789
the
adjudicators
failed to agree as to who should be given the prize, and the productions of
Twm o'r Nant
,
JonathanHughes
, and
Gwallter Mechain
(qq.v.)
were submitted for judgement to the
Gwyneddigion Society
of
London
, who decided in favour of
Gwallter
.
DavidSamwel
(q.v.)
, however, favoured
Twm
, and sent him a
silver writing-pen
as a consolation prize.
Twm
was again unsuccessful at the eisteddfod held at
Bala
in
Sept. 1789
, but he staged an interlude in the town for a few days after the eisteddfod. In
1790
, at
S. Asaph
, he was given the
prize for extempore verse-writing
, but won nothing at
Denbigh
in
1792
or at
Caerwys
in
1798
.